BROOKINGS, Ore. – It’s been over a year since the Japanese tsunami damaged Brookings, but more clean-up efforts are underway.

Just like mowing the grass, dredging has to be done to ports; it’s the removal of sediment, dirt and other debris. Curry County is working with engineers to start the clean up mid-September.

An engineer working on that project tells NewsWatch12 this will be the first time there’s been any dredging done on this port. He said crews will go in, dig into the bank and loosen up the debris.

All of the sediments will be pushed through a floating pipe line, weighted down in the ocean and released. The engineer said dredging needed to be done awhile ago. Before the tsunami damaged the port, they already mapped out a plan, the entire basin, and knew how much sediment already accumulated.

Crews will start dredging the first week of September, but planned it out where the project could go on up until February. The dredging project is paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, partially by the state and a grant from the Oregon State Marine Board.